Merry Christmas, Baby
by Nonnie
Summary: (CSI: Miami) Tim talks Horatio into playing Santa for his son, and Horatio has ulterior motives for agreeing. Please R&R, it means so much to me!


Disclaimer - I don't own any of these characters, including Tim Speedle, but hey a girl can dream, can't she???  
  
Pairings - Horatio & Calleigh, Tim & Jennifer  
  
Rating: G  
  
Summary - Tim talks Horatio into playing Santa for his son, and Horatio has ulterior motives for agreeing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
One week before Christmas..  
  
Tim Speedle snapped his cell phone shut and leaned back in his lab chair with a huge grin on his face.  
  
"What are you smiling about, Speed?" Calleigh questioned from her perch near a microscope.  
  
"Absolutely nothing," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Liar."  
  
He laughed. "You know me too well, Cal."  
  
Calleigh stared at Tim expectantly. "Well?"  
  
Tim grinned like a Cheshire cat. "I got Horatio to agree to play Santa for Ben."  
  
Calleigh's face registered shock before she began laughing. "You're kidding, right?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Horatio Caine, dressed up as Santa?"  
  
"Yep. Outfit, wig, boots, big belly, the whole nine yards."  
  
"I'll believe that when I see it."  
  
Tim leaned over to where Calleigh sat. "I'm glad you feel that way, Cal. We'd really like for everyone to be with us this Christmas, being our first with Ben and everything."  
  
Calleigh placed a hand on Tim's arm and smiled brightly. "I'd love to, Tim, it's so wonderful of you to ask."  
  
"Especially since your boyfriend is now playing Santa for my son?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Well, there's that too."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Christmas Eve..  
  
Horatio planted a quick kiss on Calleigh's forehead before disappearing out the back door.  
  
Ben didn't notice his godfather's absence, since the blonde five-year old was literally up to his eyeballs in presents. "Cool!" he shouted as he ripped open a miniature basketball goal from Eric. "Thanks Uncle Eric!" he yelled over the din of Christmas music mixed with excited talking from the large group of family and friends assembled at Tim and Jennifer's.  
  
"Let Daddy see, Ben," Tim said, getting Ben to hold up the basketball for Tim's video camera. "Are you going to be an NBA star one day and make a fortune for your Mom and me?"  
  
"No Daddy, I'm going to play football, remember?"  
  
"And who are you are going to play for, Ben?"  
  
"The New York Giants, my Daddy's favorite team," he said proudly into the camera.  
  
"That's right, buddy."  
  
Jennifer rolled her eyes and said, "You've got more presents, Ben."  
  
"Okay, Mommy," he said happily, eager to dive back into the pile of presents.  
  
John was standing just outside the back door, ready to help Horatio get into costume. "I can't believe you're doing this, H. I told Jen no way in hell," he laughed as he secured the Velcro on the back of Santa's padding.  
  
"I've got my reasons, John," Horatio said mysteriously as he slid his arms into Santa's coat.  
  
John eyes Horatio suspiciously, "And what reasons might those be?"  
  
Horatio only smiled and continued dressing. When he was finished, John said, "I'll go let Jen know you're ready."  
  
John strolled back into the kitchen and caught Jennifer's eye. He nodded at his sister, and she returned the gesture as a reply, silently poking her husband in the thigh to let him know they were ready.  
  
John quietly crossed over to a CD player they'd hidden in the kitchen earlier and pressed play on the CD Tyler had created. Softly at first, then gently getting louder, the sounds of sleigh bells and reindeer neighs could be heard throughout the house.  
  
"Huh?" Ben said, his blue eyes confused, as the sound finally caught his attention.  
  
"What is THAT?" Jennifer asked loudly, prompting her husband to say, "It sounds like sleigh bells."  
  
A loud thump could be heard on the CD and Horatio's voice could be heard throughout the house, "All right, Rudolph, you and the boys stay here, I'll be right back."  
  
"DADDY!!!!" Ben screamed from the floor, jumping up and down excitedly, "SANTA'S HERE! SANTA'S HERE!!"  
  
"I think you may be right, son," Tim said as Jennifer crossed the room to answer the knock at the front door.  
  
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world," Eric said happily as he draped an arm around Calleigh's shoulders.  
  
"Me neither," she giggled as he placed an arm around his waist and pulled him into a hug.  
  
"Hi Ben!" Horatio cried as he made his way into the living room dragging a huge sack of presents behind him.  
  
"Hi Santa!" Ben said happily as he jumped into Santa's arms for a hug.  
  
"I have a bunch of presents for you, Ben," Horatio said as he sat Ben down on the floor. "Since this is your very first Christmas with your new parents, I thought I'd make a special trip for you this year."  
  
Ben nodded knowingly. Jennifer came over to where they stood and gave Santa a big hug. "You don't know how much this means to us, Santa."  
  
"I've got lots of presents here for one Benjamin Speedle," Santa said, pointing to his bag, "And I think there might be a few in here for everyone else."  
  
"Yea!" Ben said, dancing around the living room. "Can I help, Santa?"  
  
"Sure," Santa said as he reached into his bag for the first present. "Let's see here. This one's for you, Ben."  
  
Ben took the present from him and placed it on the floor, next to the pile of gifts he still had to open.  
  
"This one's for Ben, too," Santa said, pulling another gift out of the bag. Ben lay the new present on the floor next to the other gift from Santa.  
  
"This one's for Tim," Santa said, handing Ben another gift, "I think you call him Daddy."  
  
Ben laughed merrily and carried the present over to Tim.  
  
"And this one's for Grammy," Santa said and Ben stepped over his pile of gifts to hand the present to Tim's mom.  
  
"Wow, three more for Ben," Santa said, and Ben diligently carried the stack over to his pile.  
  
"Uncle Eric," Santa said, handing Ben another package.  
  
"Grandpa, Mimi, Mommy, Uncle John," Santa said, handing Ben another stack of packages, which he dutifully delivered to each recipient.  
  
"Uncle Zach," Santa said again, "I think Uncle Zach might need to come get this one himself." Tim's younger brother laughed and jumped up to grab a large, heavy present from his nephew, who was desperately trying to push it across the floor.  
  
"And more for Ben," Santa said, pulling the last of his presents out of the bag.  
  
"That's it?" Ben questioned, eyeing the empty red velvet sack.  
  
"Ben!" Jennifer exclaimed from the couch. "Tell Santa thank you, son."  
  
"Mommy," Ben said defensively. "Aunt Calleigh doesn't have a present."  
  
"No, she doesn't," Santa said, standing and crossing to where Calleigh stood. "Well, we'll just have to do something about that, won't we?"  
  
Calleigh laughed as Horatio stood before her, patting down his pockets. Tim kept the video camera focused on them as Santa searched his suit for Calleigh's present.  
  
"Here it is," Horatio said, pulling a blue velvet box out of his pocket. "Horatio wanted me to give this to you," he said, placing the box in Calleigh's hand. "He's outside minding the reindeer," Horatio said to Ben.  
  
Calleigh fingered the tiny box and looked up at Horatio curiously. "I don't know what to say, Santa."  
  
"Open the box, Calleigh," he said gently. She obliged, and gasped when she saw what it contained.  
  
Santa took the ring out of the box and slipped it on Calleigh's finger. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and encircled her arms around his neck. "Is that a yes?" Santa whispered into her ear.  
  
Calleigh pulled back for a moment and looked into his eyes. "I don't know, Santa, am I marrying you or Horatio? Mrs. Claus might get a little jealous if you bring another woman home."  
  
Santa laughed. "You'd be marrying Horatio. You're right though, Mrs. Claus would be jealous if I brought a little hottie like you home."  
  
"Keep that up, Santa, and I just might marry you," Calleigh said sweetly, planting a kiss on Santa's cheek.  
  
"Santa?" Ben asked, tugging on Horatio's coattail. "Uncle Horatio didn't get a present, either."  
  
Horatio picked Ben up and gave him a big hug, "Oh, Ben, I think your Uncle Horatio will agree that he got the best present of all, your Aunt Calleigh."  
  
Ben still looked confused, and Santa continued, "Someday, my boy, you'll understand that love is the best gift of all."  
  
Santa set Ben back down on the floor and picked up his empty sack. "I've got to be going folks, have a very Merry Christmas!"  
  
"Merry Christmas, Santa!" everyone said in reply as Santa made his way out the front door.  
  
John pressed play on the CD again, entrancing Ben with the sounds of Santa taking off in his sleigh.  
  
Minutes later, Horatio came in through the kitchen door and made his way into the living room. "What did I miss?" he asked innocently as Ben rushed up to him.  
  
"You got to see the reindeer?" Ben asked, his eyes wide with wonder.  
  
"Yes, I did. And Rudolph's nose really is red." Horatio replied earnestly.  
  
"Santa gave Aunt Calleigh a ring, but he didn't bring you anything," Ben said glumly as he rested a hand on Horatio's shoulder.  
  
Horatio laughed and stood to face Calleigh, "Santa said that you never did answer him."  
  
Calleigh tilted her head to one side and laughed, "Santa never actually asked me anything."  
  
Horatio smiled and kneeled down on one knee. Taking Calleigh's newly bejeweled hand, he asked, "Calleigh Duquesne, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"  
  
Calleigh wiped her tears with her free hand and replied, "Of course I will marry you, Horatio."  
  
He grinned and stood, wrapping her in his arms and leaning in to kiss her.  
  
"Actually, I think Santa did bring a present for you," she said, releasing him and walking toward the hallway, where her purse was sitting on a table. She reached into the bag and pulled out a small, beautifully wrapped gift.  
  
Coming back into the room, she handed the gift to Horatio, "I was going to do this later, when we were alone, but now I figure, what the hay, you just proposed in front of everyone, so why not?" she rambled as Horatio began ripping the paper off the box.  
  
Horatio eyes Calleigh curiously as he pulled the top of the box. Looking down, he stared open-mouthed at the contents.  
  
"Oh my God," he said, stunned. "You're.?" he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.  
  
"Seven weeks," she replied as she took his hand and pressed it to her stomach.  
  
Horatio pulled Calleigh into his arms and kissed her again. When they finally broke apart, Horatio said, "I'm going to be a father," raising the pregnancy test up for everyone to see.  
  
Tim replied from behind the video camera lens, "Congratulations, guys."  
  
Jennifer emerged from the kitchen with a tray of champagne for everyone but Calleigh and Ben, who were provided with glasses of milk. "I think this calls for a celebration." She raised her glass. "To Horatio and Calleigh," she said, not able to finish her thought before starting to tear up.  
  
"To Horatio and Calleigh," Tim responded.  
  
"Hear, hear!" Eric said happily as he enveloped Calleigh, then Horatio in a hug.  
  
Horatio tilted his head down and kissed Calleigh again. "Merry Christmas, baby," he said.  
  
Calleigh laughed. "Are you talking to me or our baby?"  
  
"Both," he said contentedly, kissing her again.  
  
The End. 


End file.
